


Overheard

by geekoftime



Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: Feelings, Fluff and Angst, One Shot, black hat has an emotion, idk how to tag this honestly, just one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 06:11:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11434797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekoftime/pseuds/geekoftime
Summary: In the middle of the night, Dr. Flug hears something he probably shouldn't have.(alternate title: Pity? For Black Hat? It's More Likely Than You Think.)





	Overheard

**Author's Note:**

> hi i havent posted any of my writing in like three years and this just kinda came to me so. enjoy whatever the heck this is. its very small.

It wasn’t exactly easy to relax in a house where there was never a moment of peace. Even in the dead of night, when everything  _ should _ have been quiet, one could hear creaks, groans, and of course, screaming. Upon further investigation, the screaming was just coming from a stereo set at maximum volume. Black Hat often kept it on to scare the neighbors. While a lot of it could have easily been ripped off of the internet, it was safe to assume that at least  _ some _ of the screams were those of heroes fallen at his hands. Needless to say, Dr. Flug was not going to be sleeping tonight.

Sometimes, he really despised being here. He hated the yelling, the noises, the people… Black Hat wasn’t the easiest to work with, and he never seemed satisfied. Flug wanted nothing more than approval, but something always seemed to go wrong, and Black Hat would just tell him to clean up and try again. Though the demon himself had yet to cause physical harm to Flug, his own experiments frequently blew up in his face. He always felt awful after that, for more reasons than just the bleeding or burning sensations.

It had to be nearly four in the morning when Flug, dressed in pajamas and slippers, decided to leave his room and find the damn stereo. He knew it existed, and he’d turned it off before. Naturally, after that, Black Hat changed the location every now and then. He followed his ears in order to figure out where it was this time, and wound up in a hallway he normally didn’t go through. The main reason for avoiding it was that the door right in the middle led to Black Hat’s personal room.

The door was slightly cracked open, and, not wanting to disturb Black Hat, Flug began to tiptoe past. However, he stopped dead in his tracks a few feet before passing the door. He could hear Black Hat talking.  _ Talking about him. _ He scooted closer to the crack, unable to contain his curiosity.

“... Received another letter today, some  _ other villain  _ trying to recruit him, again. I haven’t given it to him yet. This one… is different. This is an incredible offer. I’ve let him see all the others because I knew he would say no.”

Flug recalled all those letters. Very few of them had offers better than what he had here, and it wasn’t like he really wanted to go somewhere else anyways. Despite all the shit he went through, he enjoyed creating things for Black Hat Inc. He had 5.0.5., and when Demencia wasn’t being a nuisance, she made good company. Black Hat himself… well, he wasn’t always nice, of course not. He was a villain. But Flug looked up to him, and his genius. He had a knack for coming up with ideas, and Flug was good at putting them into action. Usually. It could be so nerve-wracking trying to make every last thing perfect, and he’d often forget something. And then, as was the natural order of things, it would backfire, and Black Hat would be disappointed yet again.

Black Hat sighed loudly. “The reality is, this business wasn’t doing so well before Flug came along. He’s a genius. Constantly improving, too. He’d… probably be better off on his own, or with someone else. He could accomplish such great terrible things. But, as much as it pains me to admit it, I need him. I can’t lose him.”

The scientist felt his heart stop. He never expected to hear something like this. He probably wasn’t supposed to be hearing this, either. He felt a pang of guilt, but it wasn’t enough for him to move away from the door. He had to know what else Black Hat thought of him.

“Is it selfish of me to keep him here when he could be doing so much more? Am I confining him, restricting him, holding him back? God, if only I didn’t have these damn  _ emotions! _ ” There was a bang, likely from a desk being punched. Flug jumped, but didn’t make a sound. “It’d be so much easier if I just didn’t  _ care _ . If I wasn’t… so petrified of him leaving.”

There was another sigh, followed by a moment of silence. Flug couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Black Hat… cared about him. He thought he was a _ genius!  _ He wanted to be happy, but the tone his boss spoke in made him feel almost sorry.

“It’s hard to scare me,” Black Hat finally said. “Nearly impossible, but being alone… that’s terrifying.”

_ Oh, that’s… that’s really sad.  _ Flug felt tears forming in his eyes. He couldn’t believe he was pitying his boss. He even  _ empathized  _ with him right then. Without thinking, he reached up under his paper bag to wipe his eyes. The crinkling cut through the silence (and screams) like a knife. He heard the click of a tape recorder, and before he knew it, his boss was standing in front of him, glaring.

“How long have you been standing there, Flug?” He asked sharply.

Flug felt sweat forming on his forehead. He tugged at his collar and cleared his throat. “Uh, well, a little while? At. At least two minutes.”

Instead of yelling or threatening injury, Black Hat crossed his arms and leaned back from the young man. “Come in, then, I’m sure you would like to see the letter now. No use in waiting.” He turned on his heel and walked back into his room before Flug could respond.

He hurried after him, fumbling to get the right words out of his mouth. He stopped short just by Black Hat’s desk, which had a stack of mail and an old-fashioned tape recorder on it. He looked up at him. “Black Hat, sir, wait. I-” He stopped mid sentence because, god, the man was staring him down and he was realizing he was in  _ Black Hat’s room.  _ He coughed and forced himself to stand up straight. “I don’t even want to see it.”

“What do you mean you don’t want to see it?”

“I mean. I mean exactly what I said. Sir. I don’t want to, and I don’t need to. I’m. I’m not going anywhere.”

Black Hat’s expression barely changed, but he seemed just the slightest bit less stiff. “Good.” He said. “I don’t know who else would deal with that blasted bear.”

Flug felt a smile tug at his lips, and he did what was probably the dumbest thing he’d done since he started. He took a step forward and put his arms around his boss. Black Hat tensed up again, but relaxed after a few seconds. He returned the gesture, gently embracing the scientist. He mumbled a “thank you” before pulling back and turning away. “Go sleep. You have a lot to do tomorrow.”

“Yes, boss. Mind if I turn off the screaming, though? It. Kind of makes it difficult.”

Black Hat sighed and waved a dismissive hand. “Yes, yes, whatever. Good night.”

“Good night, sir.”


End file.
